Awaiting a big release, Raja Natwarlal, Emraan Hashmi, seems to be in a pretty jovial mood when we caught up with him at the Disney UTV Office. The actor in a small tete-a-tete opens up about his last film’s failure, his future projects and about his equation with Alia Bhatt and Mahesh Bhatt. Excerpts…

Raja Natwarlal was told to be a conman film, but watching the trailer it seems that there is less of conman-ship and more of a revenge drama in the film. How do the two combine and form the story line?

Conning people is Raja’s profession. He does that to earn his daily bread and butter so that he can get his ladylove, Humaima Malik‘s character, out of the messy world of bar dancing. In all this process he somehow manages to piss off some big personality, who in turn harms him. Now conning is the only thing that Raja knows. So he uses that to take his revenge against the villain. That’s how the two aspects come together. The fight between the two is like David vs Goliath and therefore, he needs someone who can teach him the tricks of the trade better. That’s where Paresh Rawal’s character comes into the picture.

You are known to not give a long gap between releases. However, your last film Ghanchakkar, released in June 2013 and you are coming up with Raja Natwarlal now. Why such a big gap?

This film took a long time to make. I had a release last year Ungli with Karan Johar and Kangana Ranaut. But it got shifted and we were unable to find a suitable release date for that film. All of these together culminated to the fact that I had a lot of gap between two releases of mine. Also getting the star cast together, making the shooting locations available and all such factors took almost a year for this film to make it to the big screen.

Talking about Ungli, when can we finally see the film?

Ungli will release on November 21 this year. Hum audience ko ungli nahi kar rahe is baar and it is final that the movie will see the light of the day in November. (We are not screwing with the audience)

Paresh Rawal, who is an integral part of the film, must have had his date issues considering he is an MP?

Not really. He had to take sometime off for his election campaign and that was it. We understood that fact and we shifted accordingly. But apart from that working with him was fantastic. Our relationship in the film is like that of Kung fu Panda. My character is very impulsive, jumps up on his feet at every given instant, doesn’t think before he talks and all such gawky things. Paresh’s character is completely different, just like Zen master. He is disciplined and that is what has made him a great con artist. It is the chemistry between the two of us that has worked out very well and it is he who teaches me the big con.

Talking about Ghanchakkar, it didn’t create that much of an impact. How do you get affected when your films don’t work?

It is very essential to detach yourself and not let the failure affect you. Ghanchakkar was a film that we all believed in. It was something different but I guess when you are making something different you should be ready to accept a different box office fate. Failures don’t affect me as films come and go and what matters is to take a stride and learn from films that don’t work. Definitely it got me upset as I expected it to do a lot more in numbers but it didn’t. I had to accept the fate and move on.

…and is it the same when you get a big blockbuster hit? Do you just move on?

Yeah. I do. I feel that if I let that thing hit me, I might not be able to deliver properly. I feel that if I don’t let go then I might not have the hunger to work in the next film. I have always noticed that whenever I am down after a couple of flops that’s when I tend to do my best and come up with my best performance. I guess that greed to do well is very important for an actor.

Post The Dirty Picture you have always picked up projects that are way different and not like your past films. Is that a conscious decision?

To be honest, every film has its own uniqueness. Raja Natwarlal is more commercial and can’t be compared to a Ghanchakkar or a Shanghai. The Dirty Picture also in a way was semi-commercial.

As is always the case, Emraan Hashmi films have great music. Raja Natwarlal too has. Which is your favourite track from the film?

Tere hoke rahengey is something that I love to listen to.

Alia Bhatt, your cousin, has been termed as the next Emraan Hashmi. How do you feel about that?

(Laughs) It’s unfortunate. I guess the kind of work that she is doing is phenomenal and the press should find some other name for her and let the serial kisser tag be.

Do you want that tag all for yourself?

It is one tag that has just stuck and it doesn’t go off. It’s just got stuck to my name.

You made onscreen kissing in Bollywood a light, regular feature. Do you think you changed the way people think about the term ‘romance’ in Bollywood?

Yeah I have. I have changed the way romance is depicted onscreen. However, some people also think that I have corrupted the way people think about romance. So everyone has their own view points, but yeah I feel I have brought about a change.

Sometime back there were reports about you having a fall out with Mahesh Bhatt, because of Raja Natwarlal promotions and Mr X shooting dates clashing. Was that all a publicity stunt?

Actually it wasn’t publicity. Mahesh Bhatt was actually pissed at me for taking out some days from Mr X shooting and giving it to Raja Natwarlal. So instead of calling me up and being mad at me, he just tweeted. That’s what he loves doing. He tweets more than he talks on the phone. So even I thought that I will revert back with a tweet. And then it just kept on getting bigger and bigger. But he is family and all got sorted out after a few days and now everything is back to normal.

What other future projects do you have?

Am working on Mr X right now. Karan Johar’s Ungli will release for sure in November. Then I have my Hollywood project Tigers which premiers next week at an international film festival. We are still looking for an Indian release date for the film. Lets hope that happens soon.

]]>http://www.bollywoodlife.com/news-gossip/emraan-hashmi-alia-bhatt-shouldnt-be-called-the-serial-kisser/feed/0Emraan Hashmi: Alia Bhatt will take at least 10 years to replace me as the serial kisser of Bollywood!http://www.bollywoodlife.com/news-gossip/emraan-hashmi-alia-bhatt-will-take-at-least-10-years-to-replace-me-as-the-serial-kisser-of-bollywood/
http://www.bollywoodlife.com/news-gossip/emraan-hashmi-alia-bhatt-will-take-at-least-10-years-to-replace-me-as-the-serial-kisser-of-bollywood/#commentsSun, 20 Jul 2014 11:16:04 +0000Bhagyashr​i Pawarhttp://www.bollywoodlife.com/?p=375631

Read on to know what the Raja Natwarlal actor has to say about his popular tag

Emraan Hashmi is known as the serial kisser of Bollywood since years. However, in the recent times, a lot of newbies deliver kissing and love-making scenes on the big screen. Among the newer lot, Emraan’s cousin Alia Bhatt seems to pose the biggest threat of snatching away the ‘serial kisser’ tag from him. When Emraan was asked about this, he said, “I am the headmaster in the kissing department. These kids will take at least 10 years to replace me. Every year they will have to give at least four films and meet a director like Kunal (Deshmukh), who, after 30% of the film’s completion says he has to add some romance in it.”

Well, we hope Alia is listening to what her cousin has to say! However, at the rate at which Alia delivers intimate scenes, we doubt she will take 10 years to surpass Hashmi. Wink, wink!

The actor’s claim to fame in B-town was once just his innumerable pappis. But now he’s gone on to become more than just that…

Emraan Hashmi was born on March 24, 1979 to Anwar Hashmi and Maherahh Hashmi in Mumbai. Emmi, who is nephew to Mahesh Bhatt and Mukesh Bhatt, found an entry into B-town through Vikram Bhatt camp’s movie Footpath (2003).

Initially all Emraan’s movies – Murder (2004), Aashiq Banaya Aapne (2005), Gangster (2006), The Train (2007) – featured at least one juicy smooch. And that was what got most noticed and earned him the tag of a ‘serial-kisser’. Gradually, Hashmi’s image began changing. Perhaps from the time when he refused to a full-throttle kiss in his movie Jannat (2008), owing to problems with wife Parveen Sahani, who was allegedly frowning at his smooch-fests. So there was just a tiny peck on the lips in that one.

While wifey did play a role in deviating Emraan from the famous tag, Hashmi too realised that people need to notice more than just his kissing. But did the no-kiss strategy do the trick, or did Emraan’s acting actually improve? Well, it was a bit of both, wethinks.

Then came along movies like Shanghai, Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai (2010), Raaz – The Mystery Continues (2009), The Dirty Picture ( 2011) that highlighted the actor’s prowess. So, Emraan Hashmi could act – critics realised – and fairly well, at that. Of course, the kisses were back. Mostly because a tastefully done pappi now does make its way into any good film, thanks to ‘realism’.

So on this birthday, we congratulate Emraan for making a successful journey from being a serial-kisser to a credible actor. And also to wish him all the best for his upcoming film Ek Thi Daayan – looks promising, doesn’t it?

After the massive debacle of her ambitious film Hisss, we thought Mallika Sherawat will never pose with a snake ever again, but the hottie has proved us wrong!

Who looks more lethal in this pic? Is it the venomous python or is it Mallika Sherwat, who can slay a thousand men with that famous piercing gaze. The Murder babe posed with that slithering creature recently and also went on to call it her new accessory! This picture reminded us of Mallika’s icchadhari naagin role in Jennifer Lynch’s dud Hisss, where the babe was on a killing spree to avenge the death of her husband (snake).

Looks like Sherawat has been so fascinated by the role that she doesn’t want to leave the snake, as yet. Or is it the trauma of Hiss’ fate at the box office that’s driving Mallika nuts. After all, the film was supposed to be a big hit (in Mallika’s opinion) at BO, but it tanked miserably without a trace. We hope the sizzling siren will recover from the shock, if she is in any, real soon.

We think the hot Jalebi bai that Mallika is, she doesn’t need a snake or a python or for that matter a Hollywood director to make it big. All she needs is a movie with a certain Hashmi to get back to where she truly belongs. After all, a kissing spree rather than a killing spree is what men want from this spicy babe. Hope the gal is listening!

The Hashmi lad was spotted with a new look for his upcoming film; we can’t help but wonder who the inspiration has been

We all know that Emraan Hashmi has been maturing as an actor each passing day. This time around, seems like the dude has taken a cue from Mr Perfectionist Aamir Khan, to get into the skin of the character he is portraying. Well, we can think of no other reason why the serial kisser is sporting a pony tail for his upcoming movie Ghanchakkar with Vidya Balan.

Emraan was snapped by our super awesome, secret sharp shooters on the sly, as he was giving a shot in a Mumbai local train. The film has Emraan walking away with Rs 35 crores in the last big heist of his life. Though Balan looks like a regular plain-Jane, Emraan comes across as a perfect safe crackin’ baddie, all nervous on the heels of a deal that he is busy plotting. Well, we definitely like the teeny little ponytail and wish he experiments more with his looks. What say BollywoodLifers?

Watch the romantic number from director Shamin Desai’s new thriller

Over the last few weeks many in B-town have been gushing about Emraan Hashmi’s professionalism. The reason for this adulation is that he is standing by a project that has been delayed for a long time now. Emraan has outgrown his initial promise as a crowd puller since Rush started its initial shoots, and it would have been very easy for him to abandon it. Though delayed, the makers of the film have started promotional activities. Watch the Chup chup ke romantic song from Rush, where Emraan is getting mushy with Sagarika Ghatge.

Composed by Pritam and with vocals by Shaan, this song will be a chart-toppers for a while, we predict. Maybe this is also an easy way to bring in the serial kisser’s loyal fans – showing him getting intimate with his leading ladies, in a lip lock, looking romantically at his lady. Wait to watch Rush when it releases, but till then sit back and enjoy this melodious song….

The man who could teach advanced classes in kissing recently went back to school to learn how to be a crime journalist for his new movie from veterans in the field

We never knew Emraan Hashmi was a method actor. If he is, then his career as a successful serial kisser must definitely have come in the way of his merrily married life! But that apart, the Mahesh Bhatt protégé has decided to turn serious, acting wise, as we saw in his recent film, Shanghai.

And now Emraan has gone a step further and is taking acting far more seriously than ever before. This was evident when we heard how the star of so many successful and sex-full movies studied thick books on journalism, and even hobnobbed with veteran crime journalists to prepare for his role as a crime reporter in his next film, Rush. He learned their mannerisms and how they ate, spoke, walked, dressed…the whole shebang!

In Rush, Emraan plays a struggling crime reporter whose life changes completely after business tycoon Aditya Pancholi leads him on to take a risky but rewarding assignment. Incidentally, this is the second time this year that Emraan is playing a journalist – he put on the face of one in Shanghai, remember? So what is it with Emraan and the media? Want an online news-gathering job with BollywoodLife, Emmi?

Mallika doesn’t mind showing off her skin and locking lips with her co-actors to stay in the limelight, but the Murder babe has issues with putting on extra kilos to portray a believable character a la Vidya Balan in The Dirty Picture

“Just can’t be that over-weight. I’m very health conscious, and I know actors do things for roles, but I couldn’t have. That said, I think it’s great that Vidya is taking center-stage with women-oriented films.”-Mallika Sherawat

The Dirty Picture actor reveals his dirty secret

Miles away from his regular serial kisser image, Emrran Hashmi is playing an ugly, pot-bellied character in Dibakar Banerjee’s upcoming film Shanghai. Ask him how he prepared for the quirky role, and the 33-year-old doesn’t mince words.“I watched a lot of porn,” confessed Emraan cheekily in an interview to a daily.

Emraan is playing a small time journalist in the film. His character even shoots porn films to earn a living. “Dibakar told me,Yeh sab jo role play kiya hai tumne apni har movie mein camera ke samne, ab camera ke peeche yeh sab shoot karna hai. He actually made me graduate with this character. Also in this movie, he has made me run after the girl. Har picture mein ladkiyan mere peeche bhaagti hain, lekin iss film mein main Kalki ke peeche bhaag raha hoon,” said Emraan.

From kissing his female co-actors for creating his own space in Bollywood to watching porn for meaningful cinema, we wonder how many more such innovative ideas Emraan can come up with to stay in the limelight!